Review: Josephine Baker’s Last Dance

This book was provided to me by Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review.

The glitz and the glamour, the bright lights and the adoration—Freda Josephine McDonald wanted it all. By transforming herself into the incomparable Josephine Baker, she got it all and so much more.

Sherry Jones didn’t take on an easy subject with her historical fiction take on Baker but it’s obvious she did her research. I was thrilled that this retelling of Baker’s story included the hard early days, the glittering Paris debut, the hard WWII years, and then her triumphant return to her beloved France—and a lot more in between.

A dancer, a singer, an actress, a lover, a fighter, a businesswoman, a spy, and an activist, Jones had a lot of ground to cover. Although written in third person, Josephine Baker’s Last Dance lets the reader in close to Josephine, slipping into her busy world, and keeps the blunt language befitting of Baker between quotes which I found particularly appealing.

There are plenty of cringe-worthy moments in this book and plenty of ugly words that could offend but to not include them would have been lying about an African-American’s life in the south during that period in history.

My main qualm with this book is that Josephine Baker was bisexual and I maybe saw one very brief possible reference to her being attracted to a woman. Although more is known of her many male lovers and marriages, I was kind of bummed out that one of the most famous bisexual women in history didn’t get that part of her life included in an otherwise fantastic book.

Jillianne Hamilton

Jillianne Hamilton is the author of three novels and one non-fiction book. Her debut novel, Molly Miranda: Thief for Hire, was shortlisted for the 2016 Prince Edward Island Book Award and her writing has been published by the Truro Daily News, Sackville Tribune-Post and Macleans OnCampus. Jill is also a freelance travel blogger and mom to a mischeivous corgi named Artemis.

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3 Comments

Sherry Jones

January 11, 2019 at 9:40 pm

Thank you for reviewing JOSEPHINE BAKER’S LAST DANCE!

I would love to engage in this discussion with you–about her sexuality. Of all the biographies I read–a dozen, at least–only one claims she was bisexual. The author of that book, her oldest “adopted” son,. Jean-Claude Baker, obviously wrote with a chip on his shoulder, as he is condescending and contemptuous toward her throughout the book. No one has ever confirmed that Josephine had sex with women, and in fact she punished her sons for exhibiting homosexual tendencies. (Jean-Claude, who committed suicide in 2017, was gay, as well).

My book, however, does allow for the possibility. In it, she sleeps with the singer Clara Smith. She and her friend Bricktop, the nightclub owner, have a conversation alluding to a night together. She has erotic moments with Frau Landshoff in Berlin, and there is mention of an affair with Frida Kahlo. None of these relationships was central to her life, and in fact she only partnered with men. Since she never openly lived with or had a sexual or romantic relationship with a woman–at a time and in places where women were doing so–I opted not to spotlight her bisexuality, if it really existed. I focused on the book’s central themes of race and racism and of Ms. Baker’s own eventual empowerment as she moved from needy narcissist to courageous spy and activist.

I would love to learn more about what you’ve read regarding her LGBT status and activities. And I’m glad you enjoyed the book!

Jillianne Hamilton

January 12, 2019 at 7:32 pm

I’m sure you have done more research on her than I have. I’ve only listened to a few podcasts and read a couple articles online and most of them mentioned her bisexuality. Perhaps I misinterpreted while reading.

Sherry Jones

March 5, 2019 at 12:01 am

I don’t think you misinterpreted anything, Jilliiane. The biography THE HUNGRY HEART, by Josephine Baker’s “adopted son” Jean-C;aude Baker, goes into quite a bit of detail about her many alleged affairs with women. But his is the only of the more than one dozen biographies I read about her that even mentions bisexuaity. I did allude to several sexual affairs with women—with Clara Smith, Frida Kahlo, Bricktop, Frau Landshoff—but I wonder if I was too subtle. At any rate, I guess we’ll never know if the rumors about her are true. Thank you again!